GHOSTBUSTERS: PPE 10
by Q-CREW
Summary: Ecto1's been stolen and the Ghostbusters are going to have to go through hell to get her back!


Ordinarily when you think of a car chase, you think of a car belonging to a criminal being pursued by the police. Ordinarily, you'd be right. But, if there's one thing that's in short supply in New York City, it's the ordinary. This particular chase involves one stolen brown 1977 Pinto being pursued by one white 1959 Cadillac hearse/ambulance combo known as Ecto-1. Now, ordinarily, the last thing the Ghostbusters would concern themselves with is a car theft. However, this theft happens to fall within their jurisdiction being the thieves are ghosts.

"They're still on us! Can't you go faster?" the thin, lanky, pointy nosed spook operating the pedals known as Slick says to the rounder, squatter, dirtier, grizzlier spook with the big chin and squished face, which earned him the name Pug, driving the car as a proton stream flies past the window.

"I'm tryin'! Yer the one who just HAD to have a Pinto! A Pinto! Gah!" He turns the wheel hard and sends the car careening around a corner. Ecto-1 follows, Peter hanging out the passenger window trying to cripple the car somehow with his blaster.

"I don't know what's more amazing; ghost car thieves or the fact someone still owns a Pinto and WANTS it back!" Peter says as he fires.

"Just keep on them, Peter!" Ray says as he steers, trying to keep up with the erratic driving of the spooks while not causing Peter to fall out the window. In response, Peter stops blasting momentarily to grab onto the edge of the window to hold on. The Pinto plows through a gate, heading into the receiving yard of a freight dock. Workers dive out of the way as the two cars barrel past. The spook turns between two buildings only to find a stack of crates blocking the way.

"The heck with this! Let's go!" Pug says, stopping the car short and turning transparent to slip through the seat.

"But...but…awww, man!" Slick says as he follows. Ecto-1 turns the corner but Ray doesn't see the car stopped before it's too late. He slams on the brakes just as Ecto collides with the Pinto's rear bumper. The car flies forward and rams into the crates blocking the way, sending various forms of fruit flying and splattering all over.

"Nice driving, Ray" Peter says sarcastically.

"Well, that wasn't too bad…" Ray says with a shrug, just as the gas tank ignites on the Pinto and the car explodes, sending a rain of splinters and fruit down on Ecto. Ray smiles sheepishly. "Uhh, care for some fruit salad?" As workers rush to douse the blaze, a dark figure in a black car stops near the buildings looking down at Ecto-1. After a few seconds, the car pulls away and disappears into the dusk.

* * *

**GHOSTBUSTERS  
PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS  
#10 JUL '06  
"GRAND THEFT ECTO"**

CHRIS VERCETTI-The Mastermind  
CJ MUNOZ-The Driver  
BEN SPEED-The Accomplice  
ADAM CIPRIANI-The Disguise Expert  
DAN LEONE-The Lieutenant  
FRITZ CASSIDY-The Finisher

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**  
Ray walks along the front of Ecto, surveying the damage to the bumper and grille done by the accident earlier. There are a few dents and dings; nothing an hour or two with a hammer couldn't fix. But, even so, Ray has a strong attachment to this car. Any damage, no matter how insignificant, bothers him. He runs his hand along the now uneven surface of the grille, unaware he is being watched from one of the street windows.  
"Yo, Ray," Winston calls down from the stairs, "it's almost time for Cynthia's report."

"Huh? Oh, thanks, Winston. Be right up," Ray responds. Ordinarily he can't wait for Cynthia's report, but tonight he's just too distracted to feel he can really enjoy it. But, he forces the resolve that there's nothing he can do tonight, stands up with a sigh, and heads up the stairs to join the others by the TV. With that, the garage bay is left totally empty; exactly what the voyeur was waiting for.

The dark figure hangs off the window frame with one hand and waves to his compatriot at the corner, dressed in the same garb with a mask. He waves in response and joins two others by the doors, one of them already working on the lock. In seconds, the bolts turn and the door opens. They quickly step inside and get to work.

Two of them turn towards the door and begin to spray something on them with spray paint. The third heads over to Ecto-1 and gets inside. The key is found still in the ignition and Ecto-1 is started just as the other two finish their task.

Upstairs, Ray perks up as they watch the news report and looks towards the stairs. He stands up and approaches the fire pole, trying to hear over the TV.

"Ray? What's up?" Winston asks.

"I dunno…" Ray answers as he looks down and sees the two people run over and get into Ecto. "HEY!" he calls as he grabs onto the pole and slides down. The driver puts Ecto in gear and slams on the gas. Ecto rams through the door as Ray lands on the ground, watching as the car disappears around the corner. The others run down the stairs to join him.

"What the hell happened?" Peter asks.

"They stole Ecto!" Ray exclaims.

* * *

**A WAREHOUSE, SOMEWHERE**  
A man dressed in the same black attire as the thieves sits next to a large garage door on a chair. He leans it back against the wall so that the front legs are off the ground, his eyes are closed with his hands behind his head and his feet extended out in front of him; the sounds of tools and machinery echoes off the cement walls of the dimly lit area in front of him. A ringing comes from his pants, and he reaches into his pocket to pull out his cell phone.

"Yeah? Right." He closes the phone and stands up. "They're back!" he calls as he activates the door control behind where he sat. The door rises up to reveal Ecto-1 waiting outside behind it. The thieves drive the car in followed by a black car and the man starts the door closing quickly behind them.

The warehouse is a large open area with metal beams and girders positioned at various intervals and connected to the concrete walls. Small lights hang down from the girders over the areas where a dozen people wearing black work on various classic cars of different makes and models. Tool chests line up the walls of each work area and there are shelves of parts ranging from new to used to restored. They all stop to look as the thieves pull Ecto-1 to the start of the work floor.

The driver gets out and pulls off her mask, revealing herself to be an African-American woman with medium-length black hair pinned up. This is Angela McDowell, and she is their leader. She pulls the pin out and lets her hair down as she smiles while all the others cheer.

"You got it!" one of the mechanics says excitedly as he comes over and looks at the car.

"Of course," she says. "This thing needs a lot of work. They butchered the hell out of it."

"Well, we'll get her ready and off to a good home." She puts a hand on his shoulder, smiling.

"And that's what C.A.R.S. is all about." They kiss and she heads off to an office area off to the side near the door. He, known as Max Fantigo, turns back to everyone else.

"Alright! This is a priority job! I want everything disconnected and this car stripped…pronto! And make sure you start with that crap inside."

* * *

**MEANWHILE**  
"1st Precinct," Sergeant Collins says as he lazily picks up the phone behind the main desk. "What? Who? You don't say. You don't say. You don't say. You DO say. Sure, we'll get right on it." He hangs up the phone, having barely managed to contain the glee seeping into his voice. "Hey, McAfferty!" he calls over to the other desk Sergeant. "You'll never guess who that was."

"Who?"

"Dem Ghostbuster bums. Seems someone made off with their ride."

"HA! Aw, my heart bleeds for them," McAfferty says with a laugh.

"Who we got on graveyard?" Collins asks. McAfferty goes over the duty roster and stops on a name. He looks up at his fellow officer with a big smile.

"Reggie."

"Reggie," Collins agrees, returning the smile.

* * *

Reggie is a cop in only the vaguest sense of the word. Sure, he has the uniform, the power, the equipment. But, he's also extremely tall and gangly. His uniform looks about 2 sizes too big and his at 2 sizes too small. He wears big glasses and has braces. If it wasn't for the fact you needed to be 21 in this city to be a cop, they would have guessed him to be no more than 15.

Reggie looks around the garage bay, jotting down notes on his note pad and humming to himself. Peter sits on the stairs while watching him, with Ray and Winston leaning against Janine's desk. Reggie walks over to the wooden closets and gives them the once over. He nods and jots down a note before turning over to the tool area across the way. Nodding and jotting again, he nibbles on the edge of his pen while walking and looking down at the floor.

"What's he doing?" Ray whispers.

"I've seen this before, on that show Monk. Dude has all these OCDs and he does funky stuff like that all the time to solve cases," Winston responds. Reggie walks over to stand in the middle of the group and looks up from his pad.

"Alright, what seems to be the problem?"

"Or not…" Winston mutters.

"The problem is we've got an empty garage bay," Peter says, motioning to the space.

"So why don't you park your car in here?"

"Because it's been stolen!" Ray says, annoyed.

"What has?"

"Our car!" Winston shouts.

"Oh. Wow. Well, you guys should definitely call the police."

"We did. That's you," Peter says after slapping his head.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, I keep forgetting. Anyway, let's look for some clues!" He turns and looks around the garage bay before turning back to them. "Um, you didn't happen to find any, did you?" Peter slaps his head again. Winston reaches back and hits the control for the front doors. They shut, revealing the words "CARS NOW!" sloppily spray painted across them.

"You mean like that?" Winston asks. Reggie looks at the doors and lights up.

"Hey, yeah! That's perfect!" He runs over to the doors to examine them closer and jot down the message in his pad. Meanwhile, the guys all convene together, looking over at him.

"So, what do you think of our defective detective?" Peter asks.

"I think we can kiss our car goodbye," Winston mutters. Ray slumps down a bit when he hears that. "Sorry, Ray," Winston adds, patting him on the shoulder.

"I think we should handle this ourselves," Peter says, "this guy has NO CLUE what he's doing."

"Agreed," Winston says. "So what do we do?"

"Simple," Egon says, coming down the stairs with Janine and carrying a device. "I've devised something that will allow us to track any of the equipment in the car should they decide to activate anything."

"You think they will, Egon?" Winston asks.

"Sure, with all those buttons and gizmos anybody would be inclined to play with them," Peter says with a smirk, recalling the first time he almost caused the car to spontaneously combust in a field of protonic energy. In his defense, he was quick to point out if a button shouldn't be touched it should be marked as such. Which is promptly when Ray and Egon both angrily showed him the very large and very bright warning sticker around it.

"Aw hell, I just realized…our proton packs are still in there!" Winston declares.

"Not good. We better get moving," Egon states.

"How? We have no wheels," Peter reminds him.

"Already taken care of." Janine sighs as she holds up her keys on her finger.

"I swear, if there's so much as ONE scratch on it…" Peter snatches the keys from her.

"Thanks, Janine. C'mon, guys," Peter says. Winston grabs the moping Ray and drags him along.

"Nobody move!" Reggie calls out. They all turn to see him dropping to his knees. "I have dropped my glasses…" he announces as he feels around the floor. The guys all sigh.

"Think you better come too, Officer Fife," Peter groans as he yanks Reggie off the floor.

* * *

**THE WAREHOUSE**  
"Whatta revoltin' development," Pug tells his slim compatriot as they hover along the waterfront. "Here I thought bein' a ghost would make stealin' cars easier. But noooo….alive or dead, there's gotta be some mope in a uniform with a gun. Sheesh."

"Well, maybe we should consider retire…" Slick's sentence is cut off as, by not paying attention, he flies through the wall of the warehouse. Pug rolls his eyes.

"What a maroon." Suddenly, Slick pops his head out of the wall.

"Hey! Quick! Come check this out!" Pug flies through with him and sees what he saw; Ecto-1 being disassembled piece by piece by the crew. Already, some of the roof equipment has been removed as well as almost all the internal devices. "It looks like a chop shop! Our kind of people. And look; they even stuck it to them Ghostbusters!"

"Hey…I just got me an idea," Pug says, hitting the Slick's arm.

"What's that?"

"Well, we can keep dem bums off our tail every time we try to do our thing, right? Well, seein' as how their ride got pinched, maybe we could buy us some clemency."

"….I don't follow."

"Big surprise. Lissen up; if we steal back that car, we can use it as leverage to keep da Ghostbusters offa our case and we won't get busted!" Slick brightens up and smiles.

"Hey! Hey, that's brilliant!"

"That's why I'm the brains and you're the peon. C'mon, let's make with the ghost stuff." With that, Pug turns invisible. Slick nods and does the same.

In the middle of the warehouse, the last of the internal equipment is pried free and thrown out onto the floor. The pieces are then picked up and discarded over by the wall with the rest of the removed items, including the proton packs. One of the men works on the engine, looking it over to see what stays and what goes. A slight movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention and he turns to see one of the battery cables lift up and reconnect itself. The other does the same. The man jumps back and steps away from the car.

"What's wrong with you?" another asks.

"The…the…the…" is all he can say as he points, wide eyed to the batter. The other man stops what he's doing and looks over into the engine to see what has him spooked. Suddenly, the hood slams down and the car starts up and the lights turn on, making everyone jump away. The shifter moves itself and the rear wheels squeal as Ecto takes off. A quick turn lines it up with the door and it speeds up, plowing right through. The woman runs out of the office soon after, looking around the place and seeing the door.

"What the hell happened!"

"Th-the car! It was haunted!" the man who was working on the engine answers.

"Well, of course it was HAUNTED! We took it from the Ghostbusters! Now get after it! C.A.R.S. does NOT let a classic auto go away un-restored!"

"But…the ghosts…"

"Sigh…if they scare you so much, take the blasted proton packs with you! Just go!"

* * *

**ELSEWHERE**  
"Where we at, Egon?" Peter asks into his radio as he, Ray, Reggie and Winston drive through the streets in Janine's pink VW Beetle convertible following his directions back at HQ.

"_I'm afraid it's not good,"_ Egon's voice says through it. "_The last device just went offline, I lost the signal before I could triangulate the exact position. All I know is it's in the warehouse district in Queens."_

"Fantastic," Peter grumbles. "Now how do we find these car thieves?" Suddenly, Ray snaps to life for the first time since the incident.

"Car thieves? Of course!" He grabs his cell phone and frantically dials.

* * *

**CYNTHIA'S APARTMENT**  
"Yeah, Ray, I have the file right here," Cynthia says into her phone in here apartment, trying to suppress a yawn. It's not often she's dragged out of bed in the early morning hours to fill her boyfriend in on the specifics of a story she's working on. Usually, such a request would be unheard of, but for Ray, she happily makes an exception…and forgets to be mad for the interruption. She stops by her desk and pulls a folder out of the stack in a tray. She sits on the edge and flips it open in her lap.

* * *

Ray nods his head in the car. "I knew it!"

"Knew what? What's going on? If there's something relating to this case I demand to know! This is my case!" Reggie declares.

"Alright, alright…hold on. Yeesh. Hun, I'm putting you on speaker, say it again." Ray presses a button on his phone and she begins.

"_The police and feds have been chasing this organization of professional car thieves across the nation. They only seem to target cars made before 1975 and always leave their calling card, the words 'C.A.R.S. NOW' spray painted on some surface near wherever the car was stored."_

"Those're the guys!" Winston exclaims.

"The police have anything else on these guys?" Peter asks.

"_Only one…it seems that one of the stolen cars turned up in the possession of someone else who bought it from a dealership that was there and gone. The building used was leased through a dummy corporation so there's no paper trail to determine where the other stores were located. But that's not even the strange part. The car was completely returned to its stock condition; everything the rightful owner added was removed."_

"That is strange," Peter comments. He gets back on the radio with Egon, getting an idea.

"Alright, thanks, hun. I'll talk to you later," Ray says.

"_Right. Good luck, guys."_ He hangs up the phone as Peter turns back to them.

"Just had Egon run a check on empty dealerships that have just been taken over and we got a hit; 10th Avenue."

"Stop the car!" Reggie calls out. Winston slams on the brakes and Reggie scrambles out of the car. "I have to call this in!"

"What about your radio?" Ray calls after him.

"I…I lost it last week, okay! And they won't give me another one!" He calls back as he heads for the nearest payphone.

"So…do we wait?" Winston asks.

"Nope, we head to West 57th Street," Peter say with a smile.

"What's on West 57th Street?" Ray asks.

"The location Egon gave me. I just said 57th to get rid of Sergeant Bilco there." Winston let's out a chuckle as he puts the car in gear and takes off.

"Hey! HEY!" Reggie calls after them from the payphone.

* * *

**MEANWHILE**  
Ecto-1 races across the Queensboro Bridge with the C.A.R.S. members in hot pursuit. If not for the traffic offering some resistance in the chase, the Mustangs they drive would have easily overtaken the old hearse some time ago.

"Is it me," Slick, still invisible, starts, "or have we been here before?"

"Shut yer trap!" Pug spits.

As Ecto roars off the bridge onto Second Avenue, two officers in a police car watch as it goes by.

"Did you see that?" the driver asks, wide eyed. Then, the two Mustangs roar past.

"Yeah…and I wish I also didn't see that!" the other responds.

"Call it in," the driver says as he flips on the siren and pulls a u-turn.

* * *

**THE WAREHOUSE**  
"This is a nightmare," Angela says in the office, rubbing her temples. "I can't remember things falling apart like this since we first started."

"Don't worry, love," Max reassures her, "we'll recover the car and complete our operations in this city before anyone can catch on." The phone rings and Angela picks it up.

"Yes?"

"_This is Jenny, we have a problem."_

"Join the club. What?"

* * *

**WEST 57TH STREET**  
"The Ghostbusters are here," Jenny whispers into the phone in the back of the showroom as Peter stands at her desk smiling slyly. Winston and Ray hang back, eyeing all the classic autos around the room as well as the two fairly large men in black suits seeming to hover around them.

"_What? How did they find out!"_

"I-I don't know. What do I do?"

* * *

"Stall them as best you can." Angela hangs up the phone and signs. "It's all coming apart. The Ghostbusters are at the store."

"Right." Max turns to the door. "Alright! We have to clear out! Drop what you're doing and pack up, we're leaving this city!" he calls out. Immediately, the mechanics grab up their tools and begin replacing them in their toolboxes.

* * *

"I'm sorry about that," Jenny says with her sweetest fake smile as she rolls her chair back to the desk and replaces the phone. "How can I help you?"

"You can help us by telling us where your people took our car," Peter responds.

"I'm sorry? I'm afraid you're mistaken. We don't take cars, we sell them."

"No, you take cars and then RE-sell them. Let's get it right here. Game's up, gorgeous; we know this place is connected with C.A.R.S."

"Really, sir, these accusations… You're not the police, surely this is a matter for them. And I will call them if you do not leave at once," she says sternly as she grabs the phone again.

"Go ahead, call. Way I hear it they're looking for you guys. Hell, let me dial for you." Peter takes the phone from her and starts to dial.

"Listen!" Winston declares, turning his ear to the door. "You hear that?"

"Hear what? Are you crazy or…" Jenny starts but is cut off by Peter's finger on her lips.

"Can't you stop your lips from flapping for two little minutes?" The room falls silent and sure enough, they hear it. It may be muffled by distance and muddled by the sound of other sirens, but there's no mistaking the particular wail of Ecto-1's siren.

"It's Ecto! She's near! Come on!" Ray says, turning for the door. Via a motion from Jenny, one of the big goons steps in front of the door and blocks it.

"Hey!" Winston says angrily, stepping forward. Ray raises a hand to stop him.

"Wanna move?" he asks. The goon just chuckles. Ray looks back at Winston, conveying his annoyance at the situation, before coming around and delivering a right hook to the goon's face, knocking him right out and down to the floor. Ray looks over at the other one who raises his hands defensively and backs up. "Let's go."

"Nice shot, Ray," Peter says as they head out.

"Thanks," Ray responds, shaking his sore right hand.

* * *

Ecto-1 skids around the corner and proceeds down the street. The C.A.R.S. cars follow with two police cars in hot pursuit behind them. Bringing up the rear are the Ghostbusters in Janine's car.

"This is gettin' nuts! Now we got the cops on our tail! Man, there ain't no peace in the afterlife!" Pug grumbles.

"Wait a minute..." Slick says, getting an idea. "You know how we're buying off the Ghostbusters by giving them their car back?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, why don't we buy the cops off too by giving them those chop shoppers?"

"Become snitches! We could be killed for that!"

"But…we're already dead."

"Oh…well, hey, that's a great idea! Hang on!" Slick hits the brakes as Pug turns the wheel hard, skidding the car and making a u-turn before proceeding on to the nearby intersection and turning up the street for the bridge. The lead Mustang makes the turn but the second is unprepared and rams into its rear. The lead police car then crashes into its rear bumper with the second stopping just in time. Ray turns the wheel and follows Ecto up the street as the other cars dislodge themselves and renew the chase.

* * *

**THE WAREHOUSE**  
Ecto-1 pulls into the warehouse and comes to a screeching halt in the middle. Ray can't stop in time and rams into her rear, followed by the two Mustangs and the two police cars. Everyone gets out of their respective cars only to have guns trained on them by officers all around the warehouse.

"Freeze!"

"What the…how'd the police beat us here?" Winston asks.

"That would be my doing," Reggie says, walking through the line of cops. "I may not be that good at my job, but my hearing is pretty good. It was just matter of getting a ride out here to Queens and investigating the warehouses. Of course, it was even easier by the fact the front door was smashed open somehow."

"Wow…nice job, Reggie!" Peter says, giving a thumbs up.

"Yeah…sorry we ditched you before," Winston says.

"Eh, I'm used to it." Suddenly, there's a sound of a proton pack being charged up. Everyone turns to see Pug floating next to one of the Mustangs wearing one of the packs.

"That's right, I'm in charge now. We lost our leverage with the Ghostbusters. We lost our leverage with the cops. Well now, I'm callin' the shots! Me and my buddy are floatin' outta here and ain't nothin' any of youse is gonna do to stop us!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Peter says calmly.

"Well, you ain't me, fleshbag!" Pug presses the trigger and a group of them dodge the proton stream that flies out. The stream sends the floating Pug flying back into the wall and through the pack, letting it fall to the ground. Winston dives for the nearest car and grabs the pack inside while Ray dives for the other pack off to the side. Slick flies over to where Pug went through the wall, looking at the spot curiously.

"Pug? You okay, pal?" Pug floats through the wall, holding his head.

"Oooh…dem things pack a kick!" With the sound of packs blasting, both of them are caught in Winston and Ray's ion streams. Peter throws a trap out under them and hits the pedal, sucking them in.

"Can't say I didn't warn him," Peter comments.

"Alright, if we're done here," the commanding officer on scene says, "take them away, boys. This is some good work, Reggie. I'll call your commanding officer and see you get properly rewarded for this."

"Thank you, sir," Reggie says with a salute.

"Not so fast!" a man in a suit says walking into the warehouse with several other nicely dressed men.

"Wow, this story has a lot of guest stars!" Peter comments.

"Who are you?" the commanding officer asks.

"John Hodgkins, FBI. This is a federal matter now boys. We thank you for your help, but we'll take it from here. Men." The other gentlemen begin to approach the apprehended C.A.R.S. members to relieve them from the custody of their arresting officers.

"Hold on there, kimosabe," Peter says, jogging over to the head field agent. "Before you cart these mopes off to jail, perhaps we can work out a small deal…"

* * *

The Ghostbusters smile as their proton guns remain aimed at the C.A.R.S. members working on Ecto-1. Peter had worked out a deal with the waiting feds that, before carting them off, they would be allowed to atone for one of many crimes by reassembling Ecto-1, as they would have to do with each and every other car they ever stole after they helped to track them down.

"Now this is what I call justice," Winston says with a smile.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE, A MUCH NEEDED REST LATER**  
"So their scam apparently was they steal a vintage auto, restore it to its original condition, and then sell it to owners they screened and deemed worthy of owning a fine automobile," Cynthia tells Egon, Peter, Winston and Janine in the TV area, sipping a cup of coffee. "Basically, they were fanatics calling themselves the Classic Autos Rescue Society who thought people who would modify cars like that didn't deserve them, didn't truly love them. Unfortunately, the two leaders escaped the scene before the police arrived."

"Well, there's one thing they failed to consider when it came to Ecto-1," Winston says.

"What's that?" Janine asks.

* * *

Downstairs, Ray smiles contently as he runs a dry cloth over Ecto's fender, wiping off a few smudges from her perfectly gleaming white paint.

"…that she already had the best owner she could ever get."

**THE END**

**NEXT: It's a scare off Broadway as the Ghostbusters face the dangers of...Showbiz! Also, check out the Q-Crew on Myspace. Just search for the Q-CREW and add us today!**

* * *

GHOSTBUSTERS: PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS VOL. 1 NO. 10 JULY, 2006 Q-CREW PRODUCTIONS. THE EVENTS DEPICTED ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ANY SIMULARITIES BETWEEN ANY LIVING OR DEAD PERSONS, BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATIONS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. RELEASED THROUGH ATOMIC MEDIA. 


End file.
